Mechanical Properties of Concrete Containing Polyethylene Terephthalate, Rubber and Glass Wastes

Reusing recycled materials is one of the most important issues in the world for achieving sustainable development. Polyethylene Terephthalate, rubber, and glass particles are used instead of sand or cement in the concrete industry in recent years. In this paper, three groups of concrete mix designs with different water-to-cement ratios are investigated. Experimental specimens of each group consist of PET, rubber, and glass particles partially replacing natural fine aggregates by 5, 10, and 15 percent. These waste materials are used separately and in combination with each to study the mechanical properties of the concrete. Compressive and flexural strengths of concrete under different freezing and thawing cycles are investigated. The compressive strain of the recycled concrete was studied too. Results show that PET and rubber particles have decreasing effect on both compressive and flexural strengths of concrete and an increasing effect on compressive ultimate strains compared to those of reference specimens. But, the glass particles often have increasing and decreasing effects on strengths and strains respectively compared to those of reference specimens. The compressive strength of frozen-thawed recycled specimens is about 5 % more than that of the frozen-thawed reference specimen. Moreover, In combined PET and glass specimens, the experimental compressive and flexural strengths increased compared to only PET specimens and in combined PET-glass and PET-rubber specimens, the ultimate strain increased compared to that of glass concrete.